This is the text of his presentation (in absentia as Mr. Joshi is in poor health) at the Pre-budget meeting of Farmers’ interests group on Agriculture for Union Budget 2015-16, convened on 16.01.2015 by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India

Successive governments followed trade and price policies deliberately twisted against the farm sector. Restrictions on movement, storage, processing and export and the dumping from abroad, impoverished the farmers. These policy measures brought about an erosion of capital stock in the agricultural sector. The farmers were forced to rely on inferior technology and management packages.

When the economic reforms came in 1991, the farmers hoped that their day had come at last, and that all restrictions on agricultural trade would be removed, and that all industries in the backward and forward linkages will be delicensed. In fact, the economic reforms barely touched the agricultural sector. The WTO agreement contained a stipulation under which the Government was obliged to remove trade restrictions, limit the scope of the public distribution system (PDS) and supply the same from open- market purchases. The Government simply ignored these obligations.